Tag Archives: FDEP

SFWMD completes a new Northern Everglades Water Quality Project in Osceola County

January 6, 2025UncategorizedFDACS, FDEP, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, FloridAgriculture eNewsletter, Lake Okeechobee, Osceola County, South Florida Water Management DistrictShelby Martin

January 2025 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

On December 16, 2024, the South Florida Water Management District joined the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Garcia Land Management, LLC and many other local, state and federal partners to celebrate the completion of a new dispersed water management project in Osceola County.

The El Maximo Ranch Northern Everglades Water Quality Project is a regional water quality improvement effort intended to reduce nutrients flowing into Lake Okeechobee. The project diverts water from the Kissimmee River and Blanket Bay Slough for treatment on approximately 7,000 acres of privately-owned land and is expected to remove over two metric tons of total phosphorus and seven metric tons of total nitrogen per year. The project consists of four pump stations, 19 water control structures and more than 27 miles of berms.

This is a great example of a proactive regional water management project made possible through public/private partnership. There are several other operational Dispersed Water Management Projects, including the Brighton Valley Dispersed Water Storage and Management Project, Bluefield Grove Water Storage Farm, Scott Water Storage Farm, ALJO Four Corners Rapid Infiltration Project, and the Doc Partin Ranch Project. These projects use private lands for water storage, helping to improve water quality and enhance plant and wildlife habitats.

FDACS Encourages Indian River Lagoon Farms to Enroll in BMPs

May 8, 2024UncategorizedBasin Management Action Plan, best management practices, BMAP, BMPs, FDACS, FDEP, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, FloridAgriculture e-Newsletter, OAWP, Office of Agricultural Water PolicyShelby Martin

May 2024 FloridAgriculture e-Newsletter

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) monitors all major water bodies in the state of Florida for nutrient levels and potential pollutants.

If a water body is considered impaired, the whole watershed is placed into a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP).

A BMAP is a framework for water quality restoration that contains local and state commitments to reduce pollutant loading through current and future projects and strategies. BMAPs contain a comprehensive set of solutions, such as permit limits on wastewater facilities, urban and agricultural best management practices (BMPs), and conservation programs designed to achieve pollutant reductions established by a total maximum daily load (TMDL). BMAPs are adopted by Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretarial Order and are legally enforceable.

All land uses within the BMAP boundary have nutrient loading associated with and assigned to them. All land uses have steps and requirements within the BMAP to reduce nutrient loading into the water body.

For agricultural lands, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Office of Agricultural Water Policy (OAWP) implements the Best Management Practices (BMP) Program statewide. For agricultural properties that lie within the boundaries of a BMAP, either enrollment in the BMP Program or onsite water quality monitoring with FDEP is required.

For landowners who are enrolled in the FDACS BMP Program, and properly implementing best management practices, they are granted a “presumption of compliance” with state water quality standards.

For the past few years, OAWP has been in the process of sending letters to landowners of agricultural properties within BMAPs that are not currently enrolled in the BMP Program to encourage them to enroll. FDACS first started sending these letters out in the Lake Okeechobee Basin by sub watershed. They have completed that mailout effort and are now moving on to the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) BMAP area.

The IRL BMAP encompasses northeastern St. Lucie County, eastern Indian River County, eastern Brevard County, and a small portion of southeastern Volusia County.

FDACS is currently using a contractor, Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC (CRI), to facilitate sending out and responding to letters for unenrolled landowners in the IRL BMAP. Specifically, these letters will be addressed to landowners owning parcels in the IRL BMAP area that have both an ag tax property use code and an ag tax valuation, based on information from the property appraiser’s websites, who are not enrolled in the FDACS BMP program.

CRI will be handling all the responses from the mailout and will be working with respondents to determine if they need to be enrolled in the FDACS BMP program. Once that is determined, FDACS will be contacting the respondents to schedule a time that is convenient for the landowner/producer for a site visit to enroll the property in the BMP Program.

FDACS has stated that the best course of action would be to respond using the postcard provided via mail (an envelope will also be provided with the letter) or via emailing the postcard to [email protected].

If an agricultural property is within the boundaries of a BMAP, the landowner can either enroll in the FDACS BMP Program or monitor their own water quality at their own expense and report that data to FDEP, which can be exorbitantly time consuming and expensive.

If a landowner does not consider themselves bona fide agriculture but is utilizing agricultural tax property use code and valuation, they can contact the county property appraiser via letter or email to remove their greenbelt status and copy FDACS and FDEP on the correspondence to remain out of the FDACS BMP Program and prevent the need for water quality monitoring.

After responding to the letter, an FDACS OAWP Field Staff Representative will contact you to schedule a time to visit your agricultural property. Once on site, the representative will request a short tour of your operation and go through the applicable BMP Manual and BMP Checklist with you, noting which BMPs are applicable and should be implemented. You will then sign a Notice of Intent to Implement (NOI) to complete your enrollment in the BMP Program. Once enrolled in the BMP Program, the landowner or farmer/rancher is required to maintain records of soil tests and nutrient application of nitrogen and phosphorus. These application records are to be put into an FDACS provided Nutrient Application Recordkeeping Form (NARF).

After the initial enrollment visit, FDACS is required by law to perform Implementation Verification (IV) visits with enrolled properties every two years. During this IV visit, FDACS and the landowner and/or farmer/rancher will review the checklist, the NARF, and any other nutrient application records. Only the NARF with nitrogen and phosphorus application timings and amount will leave the farm with FDACS.

For more information on FDACS BMP Program, click here.

Federal Judge Vacates Florida’s 404 Permitting Authority

May 8, 2024UncategorizedClean Water Act, CWA, Endangered Species Act, EPA, ESA, FDEP, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, FloridAgriculture e-Newsletter, FWS, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USACEShelby Martin

May 2024 FloridAgriculture e-Newsletter

On February 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order that nullified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of Florida’s application to take over permitting authority from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) within the state. The court’s decision was based on allegations that the federal defendants violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) during the approval process, which occurred in the final days of the Trump administration.

Under the ESA, any action that might harm endangered species requires consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to ensure the action does not jeopardize the species’ existence. When Florida assumed the 404-permitting program, there was no clear process for ESA consultation. To address this, the EPA and FWS conducted a programmatic consultation resulting in a biological opinion (BiOp) and incidental take statement (ITS) meant to protect future permittees from ESA liability.

However, the court found this process deficient, particularly because it lacked species-specific analysis and numerical take limits as well as determined that the technical assistance process proposed by the defendants was not a lawful substitute for ESA procedures. Consequently, the court ordered the vacating of EPA’s approval of Florida’s assumption application, effectively reverting permitting authority to USACE until further resolution.

The ruling would affect pending and future permits, significantly impacting Florida’s environmental regulation landscape. The court acknowledged potential disruption but emphasized the importance of complying with ESA requirements. It was uncertain how state and federal agencies would respond, but the decision underscores the complexity and sensitivity of environmental permitting processes, especially concerning endangered species protection.

On February 26, shortly after the Court ruled to vacate Florida’s permitting authority, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) filed a motion for a partial stay, which would allow for the state to process the 1,500 permits without an ESA designation. Of those permits, around 90% would be allowed if the stay was granted and could move forward through FDEP. The preceding judge called for a conference regarding the issue on April 4th in Washington D.C., and on April 12th, Judge Randolph Moss issued an order to deny FDEP’s motion for a stay. As a result, Florida quickly launched an appeal to challenge the decision by U.S. District Judge Moss at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. It is uncertain whether FDEP will regain authority to issue 404 permits again, but in the meantime, all pending and future 404 permits will be processed by USACE.